Superhero Identities Make NO Sense

[@smith22041]

I liked the meme where a villain notices Supes is Clark, goes to tell some others, and they already know. And they ask "do you think he's any less bullet proof while he's at work?", "The more time he spends at work, the less time he has for stopping us!"

[@Jeicemeiser]

@Latest Obsession i don’t think it’s from an actual comic book panel, I’m pretty sure it’s from “Texts from Superheroes,” a fan-created meme group

[@Jeicemeiser]

@Latest Obsession do you know where? I’ve only ever seen the TFSH one. It’s hilarious , but it seems out of character for everyone involved, including DC, to have that in canon. I’d love to see it!

[@GarkKahn]

Well by this point almost everyone knows the joker found out bruce wayne is batman Only thing is that it's irrelevant for the clown, as long as the bat is there to play with him he can be wayne gretzky, peter parker or dick grayson for all he cares

[@KarlKristofferJohnsson]

@Latest Obsession There's actually a comic where some scientist working for Lex Luthor creates a supercomputer that calculates that Superman is Clark Kent. Lex fires him for wasting company resources on nonsense. He can't understand why a godlike being like Superman would ever pretend to be a lowly human.

[@jamaaldagreatest2748]

@WoodCraft Kits yeah nah unless the comic panel you’ve seen is probably fake bc I don’t remember a story like what you’ve described

[@Shifterwizard]

Marylin Munroe once took a trip on the subway. Literally nobody recognized her. Then she fluffed up her hair and changed her posture and body language, and suddenly she had a crowd as everyone recognized her. Multiple famous icons have entered into look-alike contests for people who looked like THEM, and lost. Charisma and body language matter an awful lot more than most people realize. Besides, I always liked the "why bother assuming Superman has an identity at all?" angle. As far as everyone else is concerned, Clark just looks kinda like Superman. No reason to think he IS Superman.

[@captainbirch2.079]

If I'm not mistaken (I may be) wasn't one of the celebrities Henry Cavill, actual superman, lost a superman look alike contest

[@its_dey_mate]

@@captainbirch2.079 I doubt Henry went on a supes contest. I know that Charlie Chaplin for sure did, and correct me if I am wrong but he ended up 20 somethingth.

[@kennethferland5579]

The idea that no one even suspects Superman is secretly living as a normal person is a strong argument. This dosn't work for Batman though.

[@its_dey_mate]

@@kennethferland5579 Batman even by his late years is closer to a mythological being than a real one, most crooks and thugs have never actually seen him, this also applies for the normal citizens of Gotham and the police. That is his whole point. To embody fear and make criminals cower not with the face of a man, but a creature of the night. When you factor these things its no wonder not many people thought about who he is behind the mask, because to most he isn't even human.

[@marvin2983]

Just to add to this. Right before she flipped that switch, she asked the friend she was with, "Do you want to see her?"

[@CavinMcGavin]

To counter the Superman argument, not many people recognize Tony Hawk despite him being the icon of skateboarding unless he has a skateboard with him

[@cesaralvesdemoraes3187]

Shit that's so true

[@Razor-gx2dq]

Hmm

[@zad_rasera]

I actually don't know his face nor played any of his games. But I've heard of them.

[@otbaht]

the guy playing as superman in a movie went to a diner and was only recognized when he was still in his superman outfit.

[@skellith5441]

To counter your counter argument, Tony Hawk wouldn't exactly be on the same status as the man of steel. Superman is likely known by everyone on planet or at the very least most. Tony Hawk however doesn't come anywhere near in terms of notarity and thus people are less likely to recognise them

[@Lightagogo]

In the comics, Clark wears bigger clothes and screw up his postures so he’s shorter and seemingly fatter

[@The_Blue_Otaku]

Yeah and in the Richard Donner Superman movies Clark slightly hunches and talks dorky and a bit like he's nervous

[@bladestar2322]

He can also modulate his voice to sound different. And during photo sessions he can blur his face with super speed.

[@Khaleel85]

And not many civilians see Superman up close also

[@uchihabomber1296]

Yeah some people do forget those other details besides just glasses and I’m one of them often

[@muhammadjazidi8626]

Wow, i just know this and make little bit make sense

[@Mario_Angel_Medina]

There's a scene in a later season of _Smallville_ that makes me chuckle even if it wasn't supposed to be comedic. It was Lois Lane talking to her therapist: Lois was like "I'm starting to believe Clark Kent is [Superman]" And the therapist was like: "I think you are subconsciously projecting all the heroic quallities of that mysterious stranger that saved your life into this nice untreatering co-worker of yours because you are affraid of admiting your emotional vulnerability and the uncertainity of your future"

[@markjohansen6048]

The series "Lois & Clark" had a great take on this. After Lois Lane finally figures it out, there's a scene where Clark takes off his glasses. Lois picks up the glasses, puts them on and looks in a mirror, and says, "I can't believe this silly pair of glasses had me fooled for 3 years." Then Clark says, "Hey, where did Lois go? She was here a minute ago."

[@infographistehistorichaiti5929]

Speaking about the point of batman having to be rich, there's the idea that he could be funded by a secret organization that provides him with all his gadgets and weapons, like so many fictional characters.

[@shanon4768]

also the riddler joker ect all have seemingly very little issue with obtaining any number of crazy themed contraptions so like how unbelevable is it really that batman cant either unless hes a billionaire? if the joker can turn his minor bank robbings into a clown themed rollercoaster warehouse why couldnt batman get a custom car?

[@UltraLuigi2401]

Also, the Batman Inc storyline in the comics is related. In it, Bruce Wayne publicly reveals himself as Batman's _funder,_ and couples this with taking the idea global by funding other heroes to be Batmen of other countries.

[@infographistehistorichaiti5929]

@@UltraLuigi2401 OH, that's an interesting take. I never knew about this version.

[@UltraLuigi2401]

@@infographistehistorichaiti5929 It's not really a "version", Batman Inc was a storyline in the main continuity, and they even followed up on it recently.

[@lordescanor1365]

Exactly, that’s just many reasons why Bruce Wayne is not the obvious choice wants a bit more thought is out into it. The idea that Batman works alone and doesn’t have large backing is beyond illogical to assume and difficult for him to maintain alone. It’s far more reasonable that he has 100s across the city supporting him as Gotham is a very corrupt city where many likely lose faith in the law completely. Also there’s the argument in similar physics but there are also issues with that as it would be difficult to tell how much is suit’s would alter his physical appearance. We know as the fandom that he typically has very thin suits that don’t change his physical appearance too much, but the public couldn’t know that.

[@EmeralBookwise]

Context is everything. No one expects to just randomly run into a celebrity at the shopping mall. Even if they think they see someone who looks like a celebrity, they aren't likely to think it's actually that celebrity, and probably won't even approach the person to ask because it would be awkward/embarrassing. Even if some does work up the nerve to ask, and even if it actually is that celebrity, the celebrity can probably just brush it off by laughing and saying, "I get asked that all the time."

[@nakedmario6155]

They explained Superman’s alter ego in detail at one point I forget where but -He wears sweaters to hide how jacked he is -He has abnormally blue eyes that look inhuman so his glasses kind of make them more realistic

[@MK_ULTRA420]

Just because of your profile I'm siding with the Koopas from now on. They have an actual military.

[@bensoncheung2801]

69 👍

[@nakedmario6155]

@@MK_ULTRA420 NO

[@nakedmario6155]

@@MK_ULTRA420 IM A ONE MAN ARMY

[@RoseKB22]

I could see him wearing colored contacts to further disguise his eye color

[@gameygeemer4142]

The Superman glasses have the most testing in real life. In just about every single live action movie, there are restaurants near the filming where actors will go during breaks. Every time, people mob whatever actor is playing Superman when he's in the Superman costume, but nobody bats an eye when he's in the Clark Kent costume. I've heard it with the filming of the original Christopher Reeves Superman and Man of Steel.

[@triden1172]

That’s totally valid. I think 99.9% of humanity would not recognize Clark Kent as Superman simply because they are expecting him to be a normal guy. The point is, Lois has absolutely no excuse. she spends a lot of time with both Clark Kent and Superman. there is no way she wouldn’t connect the two within the first couple of meetings. ESPECIALLY because Lois isn’t some airhead, she’s an investigative reporter for goodness sake!

[@mariod1547]

I did see news segment or something where Cavil is in times Square with a superman shirt and no glasses and no one seemed to recognize him

[@bizboy8631]

@@triden1172 i think the reasons is because she is so focus on superman , her mental refuse to put them as same person, remember most time she see clark as a co-worker, it's like when someone loves you but you never pays them no interest in that way, because your eyes is on someone else ,you don't even realise , besides most time lois would be talking to clark about superman so the idea never would cross her mind to think her co-worker is a alien and the most powerful being....hope that make sense

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

@@bizboy8631 Exactly, also it’s actually a pretty stupid idea that her co-worker from freaking Smallville nowhere Kansas is a super powerful alien who was somehow hidden from the government and raised to adulthood by a couple of farmers. And Lois also doesn’t think Superman has a secret identity. She’s not investigating a thing she has literally no reason to investigate.

[@bizboy8631]

@@TheDawnofVanlife so true....is like those master minds who does be hiding in plain sight, no one would think about investigating them, also people keep thinking a simple glasses can't fool someone, we can tell the difference cause we are watching everything from out side...you can be watching a game from over view and see all the moves, but when you're in the same game, it's different...lol

[@droylajarhirthefelinethief81]

You know, this is part of why I appreciate inFamous so much. Not that I mind secret identities, but I really loved the take of people superheroing in their normal clothes as themselves instead of doing the "lemme hide this" song and dance.

[@admiralAlfonso9001]

I remember playing infamous a long time ago

[@MyHandleNameIsTaken]

Glad to see another InFamous fan around here, thought I was the only one left

[@TheHabsification]

Cole just went by his name.

[@droylajarhirthefelinethief81]

@@TheHabsification Yes.

[@DeMonOfRainingDay]

Kind of debatable to be honest. It looks nice because when you play the game you don't have to bother with daily necessities like food, sleep, shower and hygiene in general. Not to mention the ever important reason of people close to you being targeted. Cole had nothing to lose by the end of the first game, yeah, but Delsin has his whole tribe to worry about. What realistically stopped Augustine from taking said tribe hostage to make Delsin surrender? That it would be against the law? It certainly didn't prevent her from crippling most of them with her concrete powers so why would it prevent that scenario?

[@herowither12354]

Henry Cavill put on the Clark Kent glasses and a superman shirt, stood near a massive billboard of himself as Superman, and wasn't recognized.

[@Lanesra62905]

Proof?

[@lastgamer64]

Here you go kzbin.info/www/bejne/eafNYYtjmZeghZI

[@BaconNuke]

@@lastgamer64 I was expecting a rickroll or other joke.. why'd you have to actually provide proof?

[@-TheShaun-]

Or people just didn't care because celebrities in New York are such a common sight.

[@thegrimrhino9871]

@@lastgamer64 Thank you for actually giving a source instead of relying on “trust me bro”. You have an amazing day you beautiful soul.

[@heavenlyderpfowl1180]

Clark does a lot more than just glasses and his mannerisms, he does small things like parting his hair in different directions which is proven to influence one's impressions of you. And glasses are a genuinely strong disguise because depending on their look they can have the same effect as parting the hair, he also gives himself a worse looking posture to make his frame look different as shown in the concept art for all star superman. and when you compound everything from posture to body language to how he grooms himself they become your friend who looks like the celebrity rather than the celebrity with glasses

[@rebel2191]

Exactly, I don’t get why people don’t get this

[@baligong3592]

All those small details snowballs into a different person. I'm certain if Marilyn Manson took off his Make-Up, Combed his hair back, put some nice Clothing on while having Glasses, no one would recognize him.

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

Exactly, Almost all of us have walked past a co-worker in our off hours because we are only use to seeing them in their work Clothes. And when and if we do recognize said co-worker outside of work, there’s sometimes a struggle to reconcile their non-work ‘look’ with the work ‘look’. Especially if said job involves a uniform. Superman is very much ‘the Super suit’ and Clark Kent is flannel on the farm and a suit and tie for the office. Those looks are as important to making Clark Kent a totally different dude as the glasses.

[@aviowl]

I genuinely cannot recognize people if they take off their glasses

[@GAMADEMARCUS]

@@baligong3592 facts. Marilyn Manson was on a season of Sons Of Anarchy, and I didn’t recognize him, til someone else pointed him out to me, because his look was stripped down.

[@ProfessorPrel]

In the silver age, we found out that supermann glasses are made of a special material that slightly hypnotizes people into not regnignising him. Im not sure if that is still the case, but now with the internet and camerad there are no excuses. But Um more shocked about how Wonder woman hodes her identiti. No glasses, not mask, nothing.

[@Pieceofdatoast]

What happens if Superman takes off his glasses to clean them?

[@bejitostk]

@@Pieceofdatoast he’ll just go to the bathroom and clean them, you really think he’s just take them off and clean them right in front of someone?

[@charleschiemekaekeogu6908]

Wonder Woman has nothing to hide, she’s an emissary of Themiscyria. In fact, the public knows her full name as Diana Prince and she’s recognized by everyone. She even discloses that she’s an Amazon and lives on an island with only women. You can even walk up to her and ask her where she lives and I’m sure she’ll tell you. 💀

[@olimar7647]

Hypnotic glasses?! 🤣 I much prefer the idea that it relies on his body language, persona, and glasses, lol

[@olimar7647]

As for WW... Yeah, no idea. Maybe those who piece it together are just too scared to admit it since she doesn't hold back as much (she uses a sword, for goodness sake). Or maybe some of them just don't care about her real vs fake identity.

[@warmice4136]

Doppelgängers do exist… so realistically Clark Kent COULD hide his true identity, but everyone would constantly say “you Look just like Superman”

[@ejeff7944]

Until he's nowhere to be found everytime there's danger

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

Forget the movies and TV shows, have you ever seen how almost every dark haired male hero is DRAWN in DC comics. Especially in the bronze and silver age. Bruce Wayne would ‘look like Superman’ in a Superman suit. Clark in the comics is not that special looking. The suit is what stands out to people, he has a pretty generic face.

[@cuachogaidh]

There is a comic where he does exactly that

[@thedelordhimselfgokublack]

In Invincible. Eve said if you dont expect to see a superhero at your school. You won't see one. As other students couldn't recognise her except Mark. Mark easily identified her as Atom Eve. So this goes with your argument that people who spend time with them should be able to tell and that is correct.

[@cereskerrigan]

I feel as though Worm did the secret identity aspect to superhero/supervillain better than most media. The Unwritten Rules is a pretty damn good layout to the social power dynamics that sorta balanced out the sheer ridiculousness of powers and identity crisis these debates often have. Unwritten Rules: Respect the secret identities of superhero’s and supervillains. Private lives are a needed outlets and taking it away is begging for trouble. No violence or using powers during a meeting with neutral parties. No widespread attacks against civilians. Enslaving others via mind control or exotic effects is a no-no. No rape or sexual assault. Don’t use guns. If your carry one, be smart about using it and expect escalation. If anyone breaks the unwritten rules, any and all Supers will work together to ensure punitive action.

[@ltfamily8577]

I hope I don't sound dumb but if you don't mind me asking, who or what is Worm?

[@griswo3272]

​@@ltfamily8577 well since ceres didnt bother to answer i will do so in his/her stead. worm is a very long and free webserial written by John C. "Wildbow" McCrae (for comparsion harry potter 7 books has a bit of 1.000.000 words and worm has 1.600.000 words) that finished 2013. it hit relativ high popularity and is one best regardest web serial. If you dont know what a webserial is, its bascialy a novel written to be read in the internet and instead of being published as a whole books, a new chapter get released every so often(wildbow has a very good time schedule( 2 chapter per week for his newst work "pale") so back to worm, its a superhero/villian story featuring a word where a very small subset of human getting superpowers and becoming a parahuman,but the powers manifest at their worst day of life called trigger. our mc is taylor who gets the power of bugcontrol at her worst day, what may sound like a boring power is way more interessting then what it seems in the story she learns more and more creative ways to use her power and is much better then the typcialy fast and strong powers we usualy see. and she wants to become a hero but she instead becomes a villian after meeting the undersiders. there is much more behind that decision of hers, you have to read it yourself to find out^^ what sets worm apart from other superherostorys it takes itself very seriosrly and the worldbuilding is insanlely good, it has a official hero organistion PRT, sercet organistions, great and fantastic villians and a lot of the forementioned rules from ceres come in effect as big part for the endbringers, they are kaiju like monsters who attack mostly populated citys of earth every few months bringing devestating attacks, heros and villians work here together to drive out the endbringers. The story takes its time to get truly going but at latest of volume 9 sh*t the house and even at the beginning a LOT of cool stuff happens, what is also cool every arc featured interludes where we get to see a diffeent pov character and get to see their viewpoint of things. the story is very characterdriven and i personaly loved taylor and she is a unreliable narrator which makes easy to take her points for facevalues,but anyway it must be said #taylordidnothingwrong(which may or may not be true depending on the reader^^) i hope i made you a bit curious and here i will give a few links 1. is the link to the webserial if you want to read on wildbow site you can do so for free like i mentioned parahumans.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/ 2. here is a link to the free audiobook which was made by very passionate fans which qaulity is quite high audioworm.rein-online.org/ 3. www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/ is the home of a large part of wildbow fanbase, you can also look up the pinned thread for wildbows other excellent storys. I hope i answered your question to your satisfaction and hope you give that great story atleast a try.

[@ltfamily8577]

@@griswo3272 Thank you very much and I am very much intrigued and will check it out so thank you for providing links as well.

[@blazerightby7073]

Villains shouldn't follow any rules, that's why they're villains.

[@cereskerrigan]

@@blazerightby7073 I’m not going to spoil the plot, but duh, no shit.

[@DimitarPenkov]

The security cameras would be kind of useless considering the fact that Superman can run, move and fly thousands of times the speed of sound casually. No normal camera would be able to record him. Plus he has x-ray vision and can hear sounds across the planet and in deep space, no way you're sneaking behind him to take a picture.

[@Lanesra62905]

He's also not a perfect person Eventually he would make a mistake Especially in today's world

[@thugpug4392]

Yeah but if Clark Kent vanishes suddenly that's suspicious

[@Midsomnyx]

In Smallville, people started calling him the Blur, but even then Jimmy was able to recognize him from the color of his clothes

[@nightfallreviews1533]

Superman is shown to stop multiple times and is shown to be recorded and taken pictures of so your argument is irrelevant

[@stevenscott2136]

He stands still and LETS himself be photographed -- shaking hands with the mayor, going on talk shows, etc.

[@ianyoder2537]

As an introvert I can attest, the propose of a secret identity is so that you're left alone when you're not in costume.

[@Broomer52]

For people like Superman and Batman that’s absolutely the reason. Batman doesn’t have many people in his personal life to lose and the ones he does have are ass kickers themselves or live in his mansion that probably has deterrents for super villains. Superman is Superman and knowing his identity doesn’t mean you got anything on him. He’s invincible, can hear everyone from orbit, has several different types of vision and is so fast you can barely see him. Everyone he cares about are perfectly safe and you don’t want to test him anyways.

[@ianyoder2537]

@@Broomer52 Really the only major superheros (that I can think of off the top of my head) who's loved ones are protected by their secret identity's are spider-man, and shazam, The rest are ether public, perfectly capable of defending their loved ones, their loved ones are perfectly capable of defending themselves, have other defenses for their loved ones in place, or some combination there of. Really the biggest threat a secret identity defends you from is the media, and considering what Hollywood fame does to people that's perfectly reasonable.

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

@@Broomer52 i mean Superman also IS Clark and I think he enjoys BEING Clark. Superman is his job, something he does because he has the ability to and thinks he should. But people want and expect things from ‘Superman’ all the time. Clark just wants to be able to watch a Football game with Jimmy on a Sunday night occasionally without having to be Superman.

[@tolunart]

It's true that secret identities don't make a lot of sense in the contemporary world - one photo posted to Reddit or its equivalent can be analyzed by thousands of people worldwide, facial recognition software is a thing, etc. It's been called out in recent movies with lines to the effect of "Do you think I can't recognize you just because you hide your cheekbones?" But the characters you discuss are around 80 years old and were created before television was a thing, let alone security cameras and the Internet. They established iconic images and tropes way back that are still in use today, and while the comic companies have a sort of reboot every decade or two to keep up with a new generation of fans, there are aspects of the heroes they cannot change without basically creating an entirely new world with different characters and different rules. This risks alienating older fans and if the new stories aren't as popular it risks the financial health of the entire publishing company. This has been tried, and failed, several times. So yeah, they do a lot of things that don't make sense and we just ignore it because tradition.

[@LloydTheZephyrian]

To be fair, there are a few real-life cases of notable celebrities not being recognized while in their prime. For a couple of examples: Charlie Chaplin only got third in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest, Marilyn Monroe was able to walk around with a friend without anyone recognizing her _until she changed her posture and fluffed up her hair_. You'd also be surprised as to just how much _glasses alone_ can change your face. I wear glasses regularly, so even _my own brain_ gets a little confused whenever I look in the mirror without them, even if it's just for a fraction of a second. Throw in _changing the way your hair is done_, and you can get two wildly different looks. I forgot who the actor was, but in 2001's performance of a "Jekyll and Hyde" musical, the actor who plays Jekyll looks _drastically different_ when he switches to playing Hyde because of the change in hair and posture. From what I've heard, Superman can actually use his sped to sort of "blur" his face for cameras just a bit as a means of obfuscating how he would appear on photos and the Internet.

[@Shiirow]

could you imagine being the most famous person on the planet, and trying to go out to dinner? holy frijoles it would be a nightmare. no one wants to live their job 24/7. anyone who argues against secret identities has never had to live with this sort of thing and has lived a sheltered life. Imagine Superman standing in line for subway, and suddenly theres a ten car pile up. people looking at you going "Yo supes, you gonna do something about this?!" and the man just wants to eat dinner. No one is telling Clark Kent to get out of the dinner line for a 10 car pile up.

[@wdcain1]

Generally, people aren't anywhere near as analytical as they think they are, and the mind tends to focus on a limited set of obvious traits when recognizing things. One Halloween I went as the Joker and did the whole getup (green hair, white skin, ruby red lips). Also I kept mimicking Mark Hamil's performance so my mannerisms were different. None of my friends recognized me until afterwards I told them.

[@Broomer52]

You’d be amazed how quickly people forget what you look like after just shaving. A change in presentation and a pair of glasses goes a lot farther than people think

[@timothy1701]

Plot twist: everybody knows Clark Kent is Superman but they love superman so much that everybody plays along/is too scared to say anything.

[@gregrowe1168]

Yeah they’re afraid that Superman’s enemies will come after them lol.

[@ravenwilder4099]

There's a very simple reason the Clark Kent disguise works: because LOTS of people in the DC Universe have Superman's exact face. While there are some exceptions, most comic book artists only have a limited number of faces they're able to draw (at least in the deadlines demanded of them). They frequently rely on cosmetic details like clothes or haircuts or, yes, a pair of glasses to make characters visually distinct. Take those away, and lots of characters become impossible to tell apart. This is Marvel rather than DC, but there's an issue of Fantastic Four where Alicia Masters put on a blonde wig, and everyone was fooled into thinking Alicia was Sue Storm. It's not that Sue and Alicia were meant to be freakishly similar doppelgangers; it's just that they were both drawn by Jack Kirby, and all of Kirby's women mostly looked alike.

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

Crystal the Inhuman and Sue Storm had the exact same face in the early days of comics, thanks to Jack Kirby. Also, depending on the continuity, Bruce Wayne and Superman have stood in for each other with no makeup or trickery, several times. (Although in some cases, they used those comic book latex masks which were perfect replicas.)

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

Truth. And I mean in real life if you walked down a city street of business guys in the EXACT same bloody suit, glasses or not, how many of the generally same-ish dark haired ones would look that different to you? Not many. The Superman suit/symbol is what people pay attention to most when it comes to Superman. When that symbol is seen shooting through the sky it is what makes people go ‘Superman’!

[@stevenscott2136]

Years ago, somebody pointed out that Diana Prince (a tall, athletic woman specifically given the gift of divine beauty by Aphrodite), somehow worked right next to a man who was IN LOVE with Wonder Woman, but considered Diana to be merely average. As he put it, "no human man is THAT faithful. If your co-worker is hot, you notice. And you think, 'hey, she's ALMOST as hot as Wonder Woman. Gotta have a Plan B. And the female USAF uniform is actually rather flattering, as uniforms go.'" He claimed that Steve Trevor would have to be "blind, AND gay, AND chemically-castrated" in order to not even consider Diana as a possible back-up if the Wonder Woman thing didn't work out.

[@yamibakura8597]

In the case of Superman: Johnny Depp once won 2nd place in a Johnny Depp lookalike competition. In the case of Batman: This is just an amusing thought, but what if Bruce Wayne donates large amounts of money to the City to "encourage" them to not look into the Batman problem too closely.

[@WilliamWizer]

Depp isn't the only one. Charles Chaplin got in THIRD place in a charles chaplin lookalike competition. but, c'mon. being a Depp, or chaplin, lookalike is quite easy we are all average humans. but you can't compare an average clumsy reporter and the greatest superhero in the world. the difference is, or should be, too great to be called a lookalike.

[@gregrowe1168]

I think Dolly Parton once lost a lookalike contest to a cross dresser. Ozzy Ozbourne also lost a lookalike contest.

[@peteg475]

Well, even in the Nolan movies, it's obvious Gordon isn't that motivated to find out who Batman is - the cops get plenty of assistance from him. They pretend to be "investigating" who he is, but they really aren't. Like that unmotivated cop in the movie who says "the investigation is ongoing" and the pics of Batman suspects on the wall includes Bigfoot and Abe Lincoln. They're obviously not trying very hard.

[@maxcooks2963]

I used to think the same thing about Superman too. But the thing is that NOBODY would even consider that this godlike being with a red cape that flies in the sky could be among us, let alone work as a journalist. Add to that the nerdy tweaks Clark makes to his persona and you got a solid disguise in my book

[@PKMN649]

The entire Superman argument is based on the conceit that you'd recognize your close friend doing super hero shit and noth think "this dude looks like my friend that's funny/cool" and then move on. Literally only someone who's actually insane would think that Kent and Superman are the same person because they look alike. It's such a massive leap in logic from the perspective of anyone who isn't a reader/viewer that the fact that you wrote all of this down and couldn't figure out why it was wierd in the first place is hilarious. It's only wierd/nonsensical to you BECAUSE you're a reader. Because you already know. But to everyone within the story it is a completely deranged thing to think in every capacity. Hell thinking superman is Bruce Wayne would make more sense since they're supposed to canonically look so alike thst they could be easily mistaken for the other.

[@CapsirusPrime]

Hell, Bart Allen in Young Justice outright says he doesn’t like to use a secret identity

[@LateNightPies]

That show is fire

[@CapsirusPrime]

@@LateNightPies I know, I love it so much

[@austinroosa1875]

Truly a 10/10 show

[@RtistiqSkubie]

@@LateNightPies yea...dumpster

[@RtistiqSkubie]

@@austinroosa1875 I hope are you aren't referring to convoluted Season 4

[@charaznable9209]

I feel Spiderman did the secret identity thing the best since they really hammered home the point that it endangers those around him if his identity is discovered by any villains. That and he actually has a mask, not just a dorky pair of glasses.

[@SeanWheeler100]

But some villains knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man. In fact, Venom's origin story had him know Spider-Man's secret identity from the start.

[@shiori00]

I like that in The Boys, Homelander actually talked about secret identities and how he just gave up on his.

[@Xlen-omega]

The way I always saw it is that because Superman doesn't wear a mask ( He shows his face in costume duh) so why would he need a secret identity? He's hiding in plain sight.

[@BlueBeetle1939]

Exactly. Nobody is looking for supermans identity because they can't imagine the man of steel would ever want to be anything but a bulletproof god

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

Thank you!!! Superman doesn’t act like a dude with a second life and it keeps most people from even suspecting that he does.

[@wesleydamen2018]

I like the flash's kinda secret identity like he always comes late and who would think the guy literally faster then light would ever be late

[@tokatstorm9270]

Reminding me of that one animated show where Flash and Lex Luthor body-swap for the episode. And Lex goes "Oh, hey I can figure out the Flash's secret identity!", takes off the mask, looks in the mirror and just "I have no idea who this is"

[@gregrowe1168]

Flash’s secret identity is Barry Allen is not famous enough to need one lol.

[@macaemeia146]

everybody talking about how Clark kent's secret identity doesn't make sense but nobody is talking about how Jay Garrick literally puts a hat on and everybody sees him as a different person

[@mr.knightthedetective7435]

In defense of Superman, Clark Kent misaligns his jawbones and wears hypnotic glasses to put people off. As for Batman, Gotham has many young billionaires to consider as Batman's secret identity but I gotta give point to ya, Bane in comics literally discovered Batman's secret identity through your method, dude has a common sense

[@robertrainford6754]

Even when he’s like Clark Kent he still looks like Superman.

[@Safetyman64]

Fun Fact: His Eye color changes when he wears Glasses. AND He is an Actor an took lessons to be so. He changes his voice, is more clumsy and he reduces his strength so much and acts so good that he can fake any injuries. You know thats the Thing. And it would be more anonymous. Imagine everyone knows you. You could not go out and see the world from a Humanly Perspektive.

[@jasonwallace6749]

I’ve said it before, Superman’s disguise isn’t the glasses. It’s the power of that single curl that magically appears when he puts on the suit and disappears when he puts on the glasses. It’s got to be one of his little known super powers

[@SuperSpider9098]

Literally half of all superheroes secret identities are propped up on faking alibis, martian Manhunter is a shapeshifter who helps out frequently, Alfred has put on the bat suit and just kinda lurked in the shadows near Bruce Wayne when people started to get suspicion, etc. Any suspicion people have generally gets thrown out the window when two people are (apparently) in the same place at the same time, "oh well, guess Clark ISN'T Superman, here he is right in front of me taking photos of Superman flying around the city" and "hey, that's batman on the roof there, and here I thought Wayne had just changed out of the suit, guess I was wrong" As for all the cameras, someone with access to the cameras has to go looking, the people most capable of doing so are the government, who know Superman's identity in most iterations of the character before too long anyway, and batman can just hack the cameras, and for tire tracks, it's not hard to see they're old tracks, and if they suddenly end the most logical assumption is that he flew away, not drove into a waterfall, brick wall or cliff face, and if anyone ever pokes around too much batman has security in place to prevent them finding anything, mainly fake walls and stuff, you'd have to know what you're looking in order to find it, as for the rich part, he could have a rich benefactor, a billionaire, a company, a government, American or foreign, etc.

[@ptolemyhenson6838]

In the CW TV show "Supergirl" she has pretty much the same disguise. Some people figure it out, and Martian Manhunter helps, but only when the people who figured it out are unaware of his shape shifting abilities. At one point, there's an entire plotline where the DEO, the Organization Supergirl works with, wants to know who she is, because apparently only a few of the employees knew and they aren't telling. This is a government organization with access to facial recognition, radar tracking (for when she's flying around), and a lot of alien technology that can help with this task, but for some reason they can never figure it out and have to resort to using an alien that forces people to tell the truth, then they still fail because people's minds were wiped. Then, later on it's revealed that her old boss, one of the people who originally figured it out without access to any of this and got the Martian Manhunter treatment, was actually putting on an act the whole time and was always convinced about who Supergirl was. This woman was depicted as intelligent, but it still makes no sense how she was able to succeed when people in a much more capable position failed.

[@SuperSpider9098]

@@ptolemyhenson6838 never heard of most of this before, there certainly is some absurdity in secret identities, especially from DC but most of what's in this video isn't part of it, that was my main point in this comment I've always been more of a marvel fan than DC, so it's cool to find out about more of the obscure DC storylines I've never heard of before, so thanks

[@silverskull7669]

The problem with people like the guy who made the video is the fact that they already know the answer and can't understand that most of the time people in the comic world aren't even looking for one. For example, it's happened many times that Batman was nothing more than an urban legend or was considered some kind of monster/supernatural being.

[@jaketheasianguy3307]

They actually thought about Batman exposed chin so his suit in Batman Beyond covered his entire face lol

[@kazemizu]

Secret identities were easier when the internet, modern high spec cameras, and easy access to it all weren't a thing

[@shikniwho7215]

well Batman and Amanda manage to figure out Superman is Clark because they have the tech to check.

[@sonic-bb]

@@shikniwho7215 pretty sure he was mentioning this cause if you consider that most comic heroes made their debut in the 30s-40's, and the rise of comics again in the 60's. Secret identities were far easier to keep

[@shikniwho7215]

@@sonic-bb Silver Age are more goofy anyway so they don't care much about secret identities, only till thing start to get more serious that "why no one notice that?" became a thing

[@baligong3592]

"why would Jack Black want a Secret life to be friends with you?" Wouldn't the same thing be said about a Guy who's known to save everyone around the Planet, and said that his Identity outside Superman is a Guy named Kal who lives in the North Pole?

[@akun50]

( *pushes up non-existent glasses* ) "Uh, actually, Superman in the movies can kiss people to make them forget his secret identity." "So, you're saying he routinely makes out with all of Metropolis." "....." But honestly, the clothes, posture and glasses do a LOT. Hell, some people struggle to recognize someone familiar if they wear a hat and/or put on a coat. Add in the fact that Clark and Superman speak with different levels of confidence, have different attitudes and most importantly, Superman does sometimes stick around and talk at length while Clark is "in the bathroom", and you just wouldn't equate the two very easily. And then the more pragmatic thought: If you were best friends with Jack Black, but he mainly hung out with you because you provided a place of comfort away from his otherwise hectic lifestyle, would you REALLY want to lose not only his friendship, but also possibly his trust and respect, just for internet points from strangers? On top of that, if you've seen anything about celebrities, you KNOW how toxic and unhinged fans and the paparazzi are. The former could have all sorts of weird obsessions that could result in a thousand things you wouldn't want to deal with (just look up some of the more deranged crap Justin Bieber had to deal with) while the latter are annoying little bastards who'll intrude into anywhere at any time if they think they can get a story that outweighs any danger/lawsuit that might arise. And just think: Jack Black DOESN'T have hundreds of enemies who are looking for weaknesses to exploit to try and kill him.

[@bloody4558]

Some comic books in the early and Mid 2000's have already addressed these arguments. Superman's secret identity has already been correctly explained to exist because modern Superman doesn't do public appearences face first into a camera. Superman in action can't usually be captured by a camera at a close enough distance that his face can be Identified. In those chapters they showed that people mostly recognize his silhouette, and his voice, but he is usually too far high in the sky, or is moving far too fast, or he is beating up powerful villains, and everyone else is too busy running for their lives, to have time to pick their phones and take a picture.

[@dr.blockcraft6633]

I think I remember Clark getting Caught once. He was Getting changed In a Construction yard, And someone Walked in, And recognized Him as Clark Kent but Just assumed Clark was A big Fan. This is Due to The construction Worker was Also wearing Supermans suit Under his Clothes. They agreed To keep Each other Secrets so That they Aren't called "Tourists"

[@Ranjithpullukattu]

as a person that wears glases ,superman's way to hide his identity works

[@TheBluePhoenix008]

Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest. He came 3rd.

[@jb888888888]

Superman and Clark are friends. They met at a support group for people who look like Bruce Wayne. Besides, Clark Kent _wears glasses._ Superman _doesn't wear glasses._ If Clark Kent was Superman, he'd be unable to see anything well. It'd be all fuzzy.

[@uriahheep5665]

it's called...."suspension of disbelief". It doesn't have to make sense, it has to make money.

[@Lugbzurg]

With the Superman argument, you'd think people who were already close to him would notice eventually, but that tends to not be the case in real life. People often don't recognize someone when they're in a place they weren't looking for them, ESPECIALLY if they're in disguise. I've heard of several cases where cosplayers come right up to their families in costume at somewhere other than home, and their family doesn't recognize them.

[@KilosFoxo]

for spider-man in the comics his spider sense warns him of a potential threats to his secret identity telling him when it's safe to change, among other uses like telling him when to flip pancakes, letting him win poker, letting him cross the road without looking and do trial and error on disarming a bomb

[@Mario_Angel_Medina]

Thinking about how many suspects and theories the people of Gotham probably have about Batman, it gave me an interesting idea for a superhero: Imagine somebody with the gadgets and vehicles and skills of Batman, but that in reallity is an entire neighborhood watch of people. You'll have like three or four guys in the suit, maybe operating at the same time, maybe taking turns, plus like half dozen "guy in the chair" who do the more technical things and the forensic part, plus more people creating the gadgets, adding weapons to the car, and even financing eveything through a commom fund. I couldn't write such comic but is a cool idea

[@vylbird8014]

I could see that working. A group of residents in a neglected high-crime neighbourhood conspire to create a superhero. The police are corrupt, and only interested in arresting teenagers for easy drug convictions while ignoring the organised crime rackets, so the locals decide to take things into their own hands. Initially, not as serious crime-fighters, but as an elaborate manipulation. Their 'vigilante' is supposed to be all show, no bite - but by drawing media attention to the high crime rate and forcing the police to proper investigations, their fake hero will still achieve their goal. This fails: The police are even more corrupt than thought, ignoring the bribe-paying criminals while arresting anyone else on the thinnest of pretexts in their quest to force someone to expose the 'hero' who is making them look bad. This forces the group to expand their operations - the costume gets more elaborate, a mechanic provides a 'tank' with flimsy but intimidating aluminium armor that can camouflage as a dumpster to escape. A tech-expert builds them a command center, while a worker in the city traffic office provides the inside information to tap traffic camera feeds. Soon the whole thing gets out of hand: The hero group are in too deep to back out now, with both the police and local criminal gangs tearing the community apart to uncover the hero's identity. Their biggest advantage is that everyone else assumes the hero is just one man. All the while the group is internally divided between those who want to hold to the original mission, merely acting as a symbol and publicity stunt, and those who believe the only way to end the crime is to fight fear and violence with more of the same. Example act: The group's intelligence specialist uncovers an house being used as a meth lab. The group is divided over how to react. Some want to inform the authorities, others argue that the police wouldn't act, or would tip off the criminals to pack up quickly. Some want to intimidate the crooks with a night-time visit from the vigilante, performed by their best combat specialist in the costume - a former special ops soldier, ready to go in with flashbangs and smoke grenades. One member wants to go further, by unleashing a weapon that was only supposed to ever be used for show: An RPG. His plan is to simply blow the house up - with style. Kill the drug manufacturers, and commit an act so high profile that the local police will have no choice but to call in state police who will inevitably uncover the remains of meth-brewing, and ensure that is investigated too. The plan is rejected: Outright murder is crossing a line that few will cross. So he plans to go ahead in secret. When the missing costume and weapon are noticed, the veteran suits up in an earlier costume as well - leading to a chase across the city and a fight between the two. In convenient symbology, they wear different costumes: The earlier, original iteration of the hero costume embodying the group's original commitment to act as a symbol, and the darker, edgier costume representing the growing pressure to escalate into violent action.

[@dragoni1873]

Yeah

[@dragoni1873]

Soudns cool

[@trailmixvids]

Remember that Dolly Parton once entered her own look-alike Contest and lost

[@toasterowens8916]

even for his car, he can literally just drive underground. something a little more advanced than what bruce did with his motorcycle in 'the batman'

[@djash7161]

Marvel stated this from the beginning secret identity is a joke only Spider-Man has one still

[@verilyheld]

Tim Drake figured out who Batman and Robin are just from seeing them together once. Just once.

[@kenthefele113]

The interesting thing with Superman is that people of the world actually don’t really assume he has a secret identity. Most people just think he’s Superman all the time. As such, if you’re not looking for something, you’re not gonna find it.

[@Mohamad-m7md]

But Lois lane has no excuse to not figure it out

[@gangofheroes]

The defense of Clark Kent, it has been shown throughout his comic history that people have noticed how much he looks like Superman but just can't believe that Superman would go out his way to pretend to be someone like Clark Kent plus it has also been touched on how much he also looks like Bruce Wayne, he has even "joked" about being Superman as Clark Kent. Also I would say that Superman/Clark Kent is very common looking not too mention Clark Kent has been seen in public alongside Superman which just help him hide his identity even further.

[@demonblade001]

Everyone knows batman is Bruce Wayne. They just won't say because he'd leave and take all those WayneCorp jobs with him.

[@facelessjake9842]

Also he gets a new robin every time Bruce Wayne adopts someone

[@chelseafcfanisy]

If someone committed a crime or did something stupid on camera, he/she would be recognized right away the next day. 100% agree with this video.

[@ProjektTaku]

okay, but would you believe an invincible, super strong celebrity hero who shows you his entire face everyday, pretends to be a mild mannered, ace reporter from smallville kansas who works in the very city he saves everyday and uses glasses to hide his identity?

[@jamiel3472]

bro superman has an ability that makes him look different than he looks

[@gutscross9706]

my favorite will always be luthor in the body of the flash, taking off his mask in the mirror and just being like "i have no idea who this is"

[@rosestar1324]

In some media, Batman and Superman have used body doubles so they can be in the same room as their secret identities and be witnessed by tons of people and cameras. Sometimes they help each other out by dressing up as the other and pretend to be them. It's hard to say Batman is Bruce Wayne when you just saw Batman Save Bruce Wayne from a robbery the other day. But your points still make sense. Plus Batman typically changes his voice and Superman in some versions wears overly big clothes and slouches to make him look fat. This doesn't happen in every version tho and there definitely are some versions who should have figured out his secret identity. Even in a Superman movie where Lois got sick. She's in a daze and she's Superman and then when her vision clears she realized it was Clark.

[@hitherehemmingway5463]

If you want me to believe that a millionaire Playboy who hangs out with celebrity models and travels the world for fun spends His nights as a ninja fighting protector of Gotham. Good luck. You could maybe convince me that he helps fund the Batman perhaps he even knows him. But there is no way it's the same guy putting his life on the line.

[@YatzeeWillWearAGreenHat]

8:27 then Batman would just crack his bones

[@aaronyoung484]

I remember a channel I used to watch said their favourite theory behind why no-one seemed to figure out and exploit Superman's identity was because they already know, but are just keeping it to themselves so he keeps being Clark Kent. After all if the man of steel is dedicating time in the day to appearing like a regular person, that's time you can use to scheme or rob or do other villainous stuff unimpeded, even if for a little bit. And besides, what realistically are you going to do even if you know everything about Superman's personal life? Attack him at work where he's not as bullet-proof just because he's wearing a suit?

[@Batman88878]

To counter your Superman argument for crowds, in 2016, Henry Cavill went to Times Square, wearing a Superman shirt & near a BvS promo poster & no one noticed or gave crap. Someone on the street would be too buried in that damn phone to notice Clark walking around anyway.

I mean, Henry Cavill wasn't that famous in 2016, if you hadn't seen Man of Steel, you probably would have no idea who he was. Now, give The Rock a pair of glasses and see if he can fool anyone. And I'm pretty sure Superman in-universe would be even more famous than The Rock.

[@ТодорЯнчев-ь4р]

They know. They all know. At least about superman. And they all play along. Because if the person next to you can punch you in orbit and says he is not superman. You agree PERIOD.

[@RaxusXeronos]

Bane in the comics actually did figure out who Batman was once the same way you explained here. For Superman though, you'd be surprised what changing up your hair, posture, wearing glasses etc can do. The guy who played Superman in the more recent movies once went to an event, wearing a Superman shirt, and NO ONE recognized him lol. And to be fair to Batman, his more modern suits tend to be armored so that probably messes with people's perception of his build.

[@ProjektTaku]

I think the reason why people don't know superman is clark, is because they just believe he is superman. They guy doesn't wear a mask, so as far as everybody else is concerned, that's just who he always it. And in some versions, he even tells them his kryptonian name, kal el, so they even know his name. Plus, saying clark kent is superman sounds ridiculous. "So this mild mannered star reporter from smallville kansas is actually a secret alien superhero who's crazy strong and invincible and major celebrity in the city he (clark) work's in and he uses glasses to hide his identity.". I'd be like if you told me bruce wayne was a part time mcdonald's employee.

[@donttreadonme123]

about the batman part... hear me out, nobody on earth except the batman himself has been seen fighting this good, to the average civillian and detective at least and a lot of people probably assume he is like a meta human vampire or an alien so maybe that is why he lasted about a decade may be a bit of a stretch tho.

[@Benjatron-jw2rg]

I LMAO at Wolverine’s “secret identity” when he goes to Madripoor. He puts on an eye patch and calls himself Patch so no one can recognize him as a member of the X-Men.

[@scratcho.9980]

I think the greatest take-away from all of this is that if Superman and Batman existed in real life then it would actually be a thousand times easier proving and discovering that Batman is Bruce Wayne rather then finding out Superman is Clark Kent. Everything you said about Batman is so true; however for Superman's case at least, in certain continuities his glasses somehow have an ability to hypnotize people into never making the Clark Kent link to Superman AND it has been shown Superman can just erase memories when someone actually does discover his true identity. Meanwhile the "world's greatest detective" and "Second Smartest man on the Planet", Batman's identity could be uncovered by almost anyone at all. One thing perhaps interesting about Bruce Wayne is that he actually does allow a LOT of people he is close with to know his identity. I have had a headcanon theory that the D.A. of Gotham P.D. James Gordon actually already knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman and secretly allows him to continue doing what he does. I have no idea if this applies in the comics but in most movies and animated series I have seen Batman basically owns the Police Department due to his connection with James Gordon. If we take this a step farther we could assume Batman probably owns basically everything within Gotham, the police force, the city's camera surveillance records, the sewers, ect. I think in the Arkham games Batman has entire Buildings owned just so he can store his Batmobile in their secret underground car garages.

[@zamotdredhart]

Hugo Strange, Riddler, Amanda Waller, Bane, Jason Todd, Ras Al Gul, and more all figured out Batman's identity. The Batcave and Wayne manor have been broken into on multiple occasions. Unlike most superheroes though Batman's only friends are police and the Justice League. The one time Alfred got injured the whole Bat family was up in arms and Superman showed up to comfort Batman.

[@charleschiemekaekeogu6908]

Even ignoring facial recognition, you want to tell me no one could get Superman’s finger print from all the things and people he touches? Superman doesn’t wear gloves. What about flight patterns, satellite scans (Superman easily flies faster than Mach 7, hard to miss 🥴), they could easily triangulate his start and end point. This is mostly for the government to find out but someone like Lex Luther who is one of the richest and smartest people on the planet should have figured this out. 💀 Even ignoring Superman, what about Clark Kent? Clark never went to the dentist or hospital and doctors never found anything weird like impenetrable tissue. 🙃 Even if Clark never fell ill, what about situations he was asked for vaccinations documents, and tests records. It’s better if you just turn your brain off, the only people in DC whose secret identity makes sense is Diana and Martian man Hunter because she doesn’t hide anything, and Jonn can literally have any secret identity.

[@tcoolguy2972]

In the Batman tv show he literally finds out Superman’s identity by monitoring things going past Mach whatever and seeing the major stopping points are the daily planet and his apartment

[@fangirldreamer748]

@@tcoolguy2972 which TV show?

[@andyandnoah3571]

@God Valley No fingerprints would be a massive red flag.

[@bigboahpete7484]

@@fangirldreamer748 the Batman 2004

[@fangirldreamer748]

@@bigboahpete7484 oh cool

[@nosuchthing8]

Its canon that he vibrates his head, like the flash, when reporters are around. So no clear photos or video are possible. If we never had a clear image of musk it would be hard to recognize him

[@adromea5628]

Personally I like the headcanon Bruce Wayne made some account on an internet forum making really crappy theories about himself being batman like 'the butts match!' and making them to the point where they become a massive meme so no one would actually believe anyone who figured out the truth

[@chrisvainio]

Clark is most believable in Smallville, where he goes out of his way to not have his face seen.

[@breaderikthegreat3224]

If Superman existed someone would make a Foto of Klark and write it to the Internet "Yo I' with Superman /s" and some conspiracy theorists would believe that

[@Ghasthund]

Grammar

[@darlalathan6143]

Despite all comics trivia about body language, hypnotism, no suspicion, etc. you got Superman's secret identity problem pegged: bad costume design! He needs a mask and gloves. The Kryptonian armor in "Man of Steel" has a retractable blacked-out space helmet, which would conceal his face and hands nicely. Super speed costume changes could do the rest. At FTL speeds, he would be invisible to eyes and cameras. A career change from journalism to some home office business would give Clark Kent a lower profile. For Batman, I like the "Batman Beyond" armor, because it covers his face completely, has a built-in jetpack and cloaking device. His Batmobile is also a flying car on that show, which makes it harder for traffic cameras and squad cars to follow home. The aforementioned cloaking device on the car would hide it from all cameras, eyes and spy satellites. Batman's "Dark Knight Returns" armor is more bulletproof than his movie kevlar suits. Any armor would reduce his injury rate, preventing the disfiguring scars on his back in one Alex Ross illustration and better protecting his secret identity as Bruce Wayne. Androids and holograms would also preserve the illusion of Batman and Bruce being separate entities by having both appear publicly together. Even the Justice League Watchtower's matter transmitter could allow him to untraceably teleport all over Gotham!

[@ProjektTaku]

but superman doesn't want that. He wants people to be able to see his face, trust him, and believe that everything's okay. He's not trying to be a myth like batman, he's trying to be a symbol of peace to everyone that sees him. That's why he always presents himself as invincible, infallible, when, in truth, he's just like any other man.

[@juliewinchester1488]

I thought this video was gonna be about how dumb classic secret identities are nowadays with their inherently trope-y nature - hiding from your enemies makes sense, but hiding from your loved ones is kinda douchey and doesn't help anyone. But you do raise some good points here I think it just comes down to comic book logic - no one assumes these people even have secret identities, but those that know them wouldn't want to tell anyone. Lex once found out Superman's secret identity and got mad and absolutely DENIED it cause he couldn't believe Superman would willingly pretend to be Clark Kent. Whenever Joker finds out Batman's secret identity he'd either use it to casually fuck with him or he just flat out doesn't care, cause he fights Batman, not Bruce. Riddler finds out who Batman is, but he wouldn't tell anyone because then everyone would know and he wouldn't be superior anymore - what worth is a riddle everyone knows the answer to?

[@mainstreetsaint36]

We live in a world where actual celebrities lost in their own lookalike contest.

[@teveloakes8851]

Two things, one is that Superman has it worse due the fact he hangs around reporters. People whose job it is to discover hidden truths. I half suspect that the Daily Planet before he revealed his identity to the public had a betting pool that Clark Kent is Superman. Second, your thought process of Batman actually happened in canon. Apparently a reporter discovered his identity by find a piece of Bat Tech with a serial number on it and the only reason his identity didn't go public is because the Joker murdered him because a public Batman would be no fun.

[@aquatic4760]

One of the actors for Superman put on glasses and stood outside a cinema and no one recognized him lol

[@mannystudios2686]

I actually hate secret identity’s I think sometimes they are kinda there to give characters depth but most of the time it doesn’t work, but for cases like Spider-Man it makes the story a whole lot better because he actually has a reason to keep himself secret

[@mustacheman529]

I also haven't read the comics, but in some of the Batman shows, he has secret tunnels all over Gotham that lead back to his cave. And that still has the same problem of people being able to find the tunnels, but I bet there are some devices that hide the way to the actual Bat Cave.

[@Jombi-d3g]

You know it would be interesting to imagine how one would try to hide their identity as superman in modern times

[@shikniwho7215]

not that hard, since not like Clark show his face in the news much for people to even tell and the more popular Superman is, people would likely copy his hair style too and get the "superman haircut"

[@darlalathan6143]

Well, for starters, they couldn't change clothes in phone booths, anymore, lol!

[@mimimalignant]

Clark also pretends to get hurt a lot. Plus people do question whether he is Superman; they eventually convince themselves that he is not. Plus people do not think of Superman as A HUMAN needing to hide amongst them; they think of him as something close to deity, at least in the first few months of his appearance.

[@NoNo-lt9bi]

Batman is supposedly rarely seen and Clark is only known by his friends (bc yk you dont know about random reporters) and in the comics they always say that he looks similar to superman, and also to Bruce Wayne, in the dc universe that type of face is relatively common bc of the artstyle of the comics getting adapted.

[@khazoury]

People close to Clark Kent should still recognize him, like his freakin coworkers!

[@spunkymaniac9312]

Exactly, those superman fans argues about his posters and behaviors changes don't make sense at all , if I change my poster and wore glasses and appeared on TV my friends will still know tf it's me

[@Shadow-hp1ro]

so this is what i heard superman blurs his face so ppl dont see him

[@LateNightPies]

i heard a theory he uses hypnosis on everyone to make his face different, but idk

[@ptolemyhenson6838]

I thought that was the Flash

[@Shadow-hp1ro]

@@ptolemyhenson6838 it's both

[@moonblaze2713]

In a world in which Superman exists, you think Bruce Wayne, a guy without any superpowers, is Batman? Come on, the Batman flies and teleports and can see your evil deeds in your soul. The guy who got drunk at a hotel and then bought it is definitely not Batman.

[@creed8712]

I like how it this point we’ve so thoroughly proven why Clark Kent disguise works so well and people still talk about this.

[@longtimber]

Christopher Reeves made it believable. Henry Cavill doesn't even try.

[@UnfathomableGamer]

Hilarious 😂 You forgot to mention the most obvious thing being their voice. Surely people could recognize that.

[@kidsfantasticvideos6353]

i never understand people like you like seriously why do you guys like to make fun of useful videos anyway

[@mikemorro140]

He changes it

[@Klonoahedgehog]

That's why a lot of them try to disguise their voice

[@MasteRgamer-mk5bp]

he vibrates his vocal cords to change his voice.

[@TheDawnofVanlife]

When has Superman been shown to have some special voice? Watch any of the Superman and/or Batman animated serials and tell me they even sound all that different from each other! Yeah Movie Batman has done the whole gruff voice thing, but I doubt without being told your average metropolis or Gotham citizen could distinguish Bruce Wayne talking from Clark Kent talking super quickly if they where handed snippets of voice recordings. There are plenty of people, I am sure, if people suspected Clark was Superman, that could prove it with low effort. it wouldn't be hard, but no one thinks Superman has a secret identity. They don't think he's hiding as some dude. They just think he goes off to his fortress of solitude in his off hours. Not put on a business suit and goes to some boring old job.

[@meenaj2323]

Actually, Superman has been caught on camera. He CHANGED IN A PHOTO BOOTH ONCE. A kid had photos of him turning into Superman, and he just snatched them away.

[@lordelmo9903]

I think Batman usually gets his batmobile home via the batwing. But that is pretty noticeable, that's why he doesn't bring it home, but to his bat Ave, which he built directly under his house so if anyone follows him to his bat cave they would find out his real identity...

[@gregrowe1168]

The thing with Superman is that most people didn’t really know what he actually looked like. They knew his general body type and size but rarely saw what his face actually looked like. Lois taking forever to figure out his identity in the comics and old movies never made sense though. She saw him up close every day, knew exactly what he looked like. It always made her look dimwitted to not be able to figure it out. The fact that Clark always disappeared when Superman was around was such an obvious clue that she never figured out either.

[@GrayGasana]

Yes but a bunch of cover models said that Bruce was in the Bahamas with them last week, same time batman was fighting riddler

[@JamieAllen1977]

Superman : . only those close to kent would have a chance to recognize him - mostly at the daily planet. I do believe that everyone there knows he's superman but are just scared of what a 'god' like creature who wants anonymity might do if they call him out. (They meet on thursday, deep underground in a lead lined bunker to cry about it)